I tryed to delete it but Vista said I don't have right to, I spawned "administrator right enabled" explorer process to delete it, and still it can't let me remove the exe/dll files (It still said I have no right to remove them).

I don't really want to remove it in WinXP as I don't want one OS to write changes to the other's partition, so what should I do to remove the folder in Vista?

To cleanup the Windows.old folder, you can click on the Vista pearl, type "disk clean" and hit enter to open the Disk Cleanup tool. Choose "Files from all users on this computer" and choose the drive you want to clean. After it lists what is available
to "clean", scroll down and select Windows.old from the list of choices. Then delete as desired!

﻿To cleanup the Windows.old folder, you can click on the Vista pearl, type "disk clean" and hit enter to open the Disk Cleanup tool. Choose "Files from all users on this computer" and choose the drive you want to clean. After it lists what is available
to "clean", scroll down and select Windows.old from the list of choices. Then delete as desired!

Yes the Disk Cleanup utility does a great work. Just make sure you check all the checkboxes afterwards, to have everything cleaned up.

﻿I don't about Vista, but when I'm running as a limted account on either XP or 2000, I can't start a copy Explorer running under different credentials because it's already running !

An administrator running under UAC can of course elevate explorer, no problem. But a limited user can still not start an elevated explorer just like in XP. It's not as necessary anymore though, in XP elevating explorer was the only way to get at some things
(like the network card property sheet), in Vista this is no longer true since most of those things will ask to elevate on their own now.

This should clean up above 2 GB of hard disk space occupied by the Windows.old folder.

I checked this on Vista x64.

Ddas, I followed all the step you posted but couldn't see the "...Previous Windows installation(s) in the 'Files to delete' list" as you've mentioned. I'm using Vista Home - does this make any difference? Thanks!

To cleanup the Windows.old folder, you can click on the Vista pearl, type "disk clean" and hit enter to open the Disk Cleanup tool. Choose "Files from all users on this computer" and choose the drive you want to clean. After it lists what is available
to "clean", scroll down and select Windows.old from the list of choices. Then delete as desired!

Thanks this saved up like 20 gig for me after reinstalling windows 3 times a year i never knew it was possible .

To cleanup the Windows.old folder, you can click on the Vista pearl, type "disk clean" and hit enter to open the Disk Cleanup tool. Choose "Files from all users on this computer" and choose the drive you want to clean. After it lists what is available
to "clean", scroll down and select Windows.old from the list of choices. Then delete as desired!

i reinstalled windows vista and my 220GB hard drive is almost full! it's never looked like that before. i saw the windows.old file and i didn't know there was a certain way to delete it, and i just deleted it like any other file. it took a long time,
and i don't see the file on my drive anymore and it's not in the recycle bin (i emptied it anyway) but my available space didn't change at all.

i can see hidden files, but i don't see it on my C drive, and i searched for it but can't find it... what did i do wrong, can i fix it?

Ddas, I followed all the step you posted but couldn't see the "...Previous Windows installation(s) in the 'Files to delete' list" as you've mentioned. I'm using Vista Home - does this make any difference? Thanks!

Juba,

I have Vista Home premium which is the lowest end of the range I think and the procedure shown by ddas works for me. I just went to Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup >

selected "Files from all users on this computer"

I selected the C drive to be cleaned up and previous windows installations showed up...was able to clean up sucessfully.
I managed to delete the windows.old folder which had like 36 GB !

On Windows7 RC1 (Mac user here, so if I made a mistake, don't laugh) I hit the Windows key, typed "windows explorer" and from the search result I right clicked and left clicked 'run as administrator'. I was then able to delete the Windows.old folder from
that privilege boosted file browser.

On Windows7 RC1 (Mac user here, so if I made a mistake, don't laugh) I hit the Windows key, typed "windows explorer" and from the search result I right clicked and left clicked 'run as administrator'. I was then able to delete the Windows.old
folder from that privilege boosted file browser.

On Windows 7 RC1 the Disk Cleanup option also works but you need an extra step:

Click Start, click All Programs, click
Accessories, and then click
System Tools.

Click Disk Cleanup.

In the Disk Cleanup Options dialog box, click
Files from all users on this computer.

Note If the User Account Control dialog box appears, type the administrator password, and then click
OK. Otherwise, click Continue.

In the Disk Cleanup:Drive Selection dialog box, select the hard disk drive that you want to clean up, and then click
OK. Wait while the system scans the computer for unnecessary files.

Click the Disk Cleanup tab click on the
Clean up System Files icon

Wait for the system to analyze the system files.

Click the Disk Cleanup tab, and then look for the
Previous Windows installations check box.

If you find the Previous Windows installations check box, click to select it, and then click
OK.

When you are prompted to confirm the removal of files, click
Delete Files.

Wait while the system removes the files. You have now removed the Windows.old folder.

To cleanup the Windows.old folder, you can click on the Vista pearl, type "disk clean" and hit enter to open the Disk Cleanup tool. Choose "Files from all users on this computer" and choose the drive you want to clean. After it lists what is available
to "clean", scroll down and select Windows.old from the list of choices. Then delete as desired!

gfincher....you so good.....thanks a lot. You saved me 20GB via your first e-post. Works a treat with no UAC issues at all. THANKS